Elaine was currently sitting in her aunt’s kitchen, dining with her extended family. Or was that her grandaunt?
Percy hadn’t paid much attention.
She looked like she was having a ton of fun too, catching up with relatives she hadn’t seen in years.
‘I have to hand it to Uncle Gawain for not having a stick up his ass…’ Percy thought.
Typically, nobles only bothered to marry a commoner if they were a Yellow-born, bringing more talented mages into the family. It was practical, if somewhat callous and transactional.
This wasn’t what Elaine’s father had done, however, getting together with his Orange-born wife out of love. This wasn’t news to Percy, but getting a feel for Ragnelle’s humble origins still put everything into perspective.
‘They’re all good people… No wonder Elaine turned out so nice...’
Regardless, Percy was bored out of his mind here. Not only did he not know any of them, but he couldn’t even reveal his existence. Admittedly, the roasted duck tasted nice, but meat was all they’d eaten since Twilight City, so he wasn’t all that excited about it either.
Of course, Elaine was planning to ask them about Archibald and House Avalon later, but she hadn’t brought it up yet, probably not wanting to sour the reunion with what promised to be a gloomy topic.Consequently, Percy had no choice but to wait quietly in a corner of his cousin’s mind.
Luckily, he did have something quite interesting to focus on in the meantime.
Filtering out the conversation, he gathered his willpower, allowing it to spill out of his host’s body. He let it gently unfold inside the modest room, taking great care not to touch any of the others, else they might notice. He also had to avoid breaking anything or making noise, which limited what he could do by quite a bit.
Thankfully, it wasn’t his first time playing with his domain.
Percy felt the invisible field roll like a carpet on the floor around the table, gently brushing against the wooden planks while enveloping the furniture. Given the circumstances, he couldn’t test the range or power of the ability, so he instead concentrated on sensing his surroundings with it.
The tactile feeling of his mind tracing the gaps and grooves of the planks was intoxicating. If he focused harder, he could even tell which ones were dustier or full of scratches and dents – Elaine’s aunt clearly hadn’t swept behind the cupboards in weeks.
‘It’s fascinating… having this much control over your surroundings without spending a single drop of mana…’
He obviously wouldn’t do it, but Percy knew he could bring the whole house down with ease if he wanted, without lifting a finger.
It hadn’t taken him long to discover that he could produce a domain while inhabiting Elaine’s body. This wasn’t even her domain. It was his own. He could only use it due to her grade, but it was made entirely out of his willpower, not hers.
Had he known it would work like this, he might have chosen to possess his cousin instead of Nesha during the fight against the Blues. A big concern when inhabiting another’s body, was that he and his hosts were limited to the same shared mana pool. And since Elaine was better at manipulating her water mana than him, Percy would have only gotten in her way, had he tried to pitch in.
Evidently, the same restriction didn’t apply to one’s domain. As long as he possessed a body with a Blue core or higher, it appeared he could generate a separate domain of his own. In hindsight, it made a lot of sense – two wills, two domains. Needless to say, he and Elaine would have made quick work of their opponents had they realized.
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Then again, he didn’t really regret how things had turned out.
Had he not been forced into a corner, he might have never merged his spells into the Carnival. And Phoebe knew whether he would have survived this long without it. Not to mention that his clone had saved Nesha’s life, his armour having protected her from a potentially lethal sneak attack. Granted, had he possessed Elaine instead, his girlfriend might have not even needed saving in the first place, but it was hard to guess how things would have played out in this alternative universe.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter… It’s still a great opportunity to learn more about domains…’
This was especially relevant now that his main body was fighting Blues on a frequent basis. Once this clone merged back into the original, his experiences were bound to serve as a good reference point.
It still wasn’t a priority, since he’d rather help Elaine master the Dance and bring the knowledge back to Micky as soon as possible. After all, Elaine wouldn’t be his last Blue host, so he could continue exploring the subject with his other clones in the future. That was why the two had prioritized the boosting art during the return trip.
However, Percy had investigated a few things over the past couple of months.
The first was obviously the possibility of transferring the domain to his main body via the ethereal cord. Had that worked, Percy wouldn’t have even entertained the idea of leaving his cousin’s body. Having a clone permanently stationed here would have been a small price to pay, in exchange for the ability to wield a domain whenever he wanted. On top of that, it would have given him the option of equipping all his clones with a domain too, besides the standard stash of fused mana.
And he’d thought the odds of that working had been good. The soul mana he transferred to his clones and familiar already contained willpower, so why wouldn’t he be able to send his willpower on its own?
Sadly, reality was a cruel mistress.
While he could indeed transfer his domain through the cord, it turned out that the exotic resource was a lot more evanescent than he’d expected, vanishing after the briefest moment of inattention. The mere act of trying to pass ownership to his main body caused ninety-nine percent of it to dissipate. The scarce traces that made it to the other side didn’t last very long either. He clearly wouldn’t be able to as much as tickle his opponents with it, let alone having it survive inside his severed soul wisps for more than a second or two.
‘I suppose that’s why they call it a “domain”, and not “soft mana” or anything like that…’
The good news was that he’d managed to replicate some of the tricks his enemies had shown him. After discussing this with his main body, and whenever he and Elaine hadn’t been able to practice the Dance, he’d worked on moulding the domain into a thin protective layer around his cousin’s body, or a condensed blast powerful enough to shatter a large boulder.
Neither he nor Elaine had made much progress with incorporating their understanding of their affinities into the ability, but Percy didn’t even know if he would be able to do that while borrowing her body. Would he have to infuse the properties of his own mana types into it, or his cousin’s?
Either way, they weren’t in a rush.
Percy was about to resume his practice, when he noticed that his host had stopped talking at some point, as had the others. A quick glance revealed that everyone’s plates were empty – Elaine’s, her aunt’s, the husband’s and their adult daughter’s. And the woman had left the room at some point, when Percy wasn’t paying attention.
A minute later, she returned, carrying four wooden bowls in her hands. Looking at the thick, syrupy liquid glistening in a deep golden colour, his borrowed mouth couldn’t help but water.
‘Elaine… is that…?’
His cousin smiled internally.
‘It’s part of the reason I wanted us to come here. I knew my aunt would treat us to some whistling sap. I didn’t realize this until after you left for the Alchemists’ Guild, but you’ve never tried it before, have you? I’m sorry I forgot during the trip to the temple.’
Percy chuckled inwards.
‘I appreciate the sentiment, but you didn’t have to bring us here for that. It’s not a big deal.’
But Elaine shook her head internally, while thanking her aunt for the bowl on the outside.
‘It is a big deal. I’ve said this before, but you can’t spend your whole life training, Percy... I know the last few years have been hectic, but everyone needs to unwind once in a while. Even you. Even if it’s just your clone bringing the memories back later…’
Relinquishing her control over her hands, she let him take over, to enjoy the rare dessert by himself.
Moving the wooden spoon into his cousin’s mouth, he tasted the sticky substance, its rich sweetness reminding him a little of Freddy’s Honey Rolls. But the sap differed a little, as it left a slightly bitter aftertaste. It wasn’t enough to deter the young children it was often given to, but it was more than sufficient to make the snack unique and memorable.
More than anything, it was Elaine’s nice gesture that filled Percy with warmth, however.
‘Thanks, cuz... You’re the best.’